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Χορός

πολλαχοῦ σκοποῦντες ἡμᾶς εἰς ἅπανθʼ εὑρήσετε

τοὺς τρόπους καὶ τὴν δίαιταν σφηξὶν ἐμφερεστάτους.

πρῶτα μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲν ἡμῶν ζῷον ἠρεθισμένον

μᾶλλον ὀξύθυμόν ἐστιν οὐδὲ δυσκολώτερον·
1105

εἶτα τἄλλʼ ὅμοια πάντα σφηξὶ μηχανώμεθα.

ξυλλεγέντες γὰρ καθʼ ἑσμούς, ὡσπερεὶ τἀνθρήνια,

οἱ μὲν ἡμῶν οὗπερ ἅρχων, οἱ δὲ παρὰ τοὺς ἕνδεκα,

οἱ δʼ ἐν ᾠδείῳ δικάζουσʼ, οἱ δὲ πρὸς τοῖς τειχίοις

ξυμβεβυσμένοι πυκνόν, νεύοντες ἐς τὴν γῆν, μόλις
1110

ὥσπερ οἱ σκώληκες ἐν τοῖς κυττάροις κινούμενοι.

ἔς τε τὴν ἄλλην δίαιτάν ἐσμεν εὐπορώτατοι.

πάντα γὰρ κεντοῦμεν ἄνδρα κἀκπορίζομεν βίον.

ἀλλὰ γὰρ κηφῆνες ἡμῖν εἰσιν ἐγκαθήμενοι

οὐκ ἔχοντες κέντρον, οἳ μένοντες ἡμῶν τοῦ φόρου
1115

τὸν πόνον κατεσθίουσιν, οὐ ταλαιπωρούμενοι.

τοῦτο δʼ ἔστʼ ἄλγιστον ἡμῖν, ἤν τις ἀστράτευτος ὢν

ἐκροφῇ τὸν μισθὸν ἡμῶν, τῆσδε τῆς χώρας ὕπερ

μήτε κώπην μήτε λόγχην μήτε φλύκταιναν λαβών.

ἀλλʼ ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ τὸ λοιπὸν τῶν πολιτῶν ἔμβραχυ
1120

ὅστις ἂν μὴ ʼχῃ τὸ κέντρον, μὴ φέρειν τριώβολον.

Wasps. Aristophanes. ed. F. W. Hall, ed. William M. Geldart. Oxford. 1906.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Σφῆκες (Greek) (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 1. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.)

Translations (2)

Wasps (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Anonymous; 1938 compilation). Migrated from Perseus legacy XML; source wording and notes retained. See TEI header and migration inventory.) — 1102 focus

Leader of the Second Semi-Chorus

Look well at us, and you will see that we have all the character and habits of the wasp. Firstly, if roused, no beings are more irascible, 1105 more relentless than we are. In all other things, too, we act like wasps. We collect in swarms, in a kind of nests, and some go judging with the Archon, some with the Eleven, others at the Odeon; there are yet others, who hardly move at all, like the grubs in the cells, 1110 but remain glued to the walls, and bent double to the ground. We also pay full attention to the discovery of all sorts of means of existing and sting the first who comes, so as to live at his expense. Finally, we have among us drones, 1115 who have no sting and who, without giving themselves the least trouble, seize on our revenues as they flow past them and devour them. It's this that grieves us most of all, to see men who have never served or held either lance or oar in defence of their country, enriching themselves at our expense without ever raising a blister on their hands. 1120 In short, I give it as my deliberate opinion that in future every citizen not possessed of a sting shall not receive the triobolus.

English (Sanjaya, generated; selected passages) (OCR draft) Experimental (Source: pnadelofficial/aristophanes-sanjaya, commit c319590c139e5603e71f0699caa0663d823af8ad. Machine-generated source annotations retained; see Sanjaya import audit for coverage and limitations.) — 1102 focus

Chorus: looking for us in many places, you will find us in everything.

Chorus: most like wasps in their habits and way of life.

Chorus: for first of all no animal of ours has been provoked

Chorus: He is rather sharp-tempered, but not more difficult;

1105

Chorus: Then we devise all the rest, the same things, for the wasps.

Chorus: For, having been gathered according to the festivals, just as on the Anthesteria,

Chorus: some of us are under the one who rules, others by the Eleven,

Chorus: some are judging in the singing room, others are near the small walls.

Chorus: having been beaten closely, nodding towards the ground, barely

1110

Chorus: just as the worms move in the honeycombs.

Chorus: And in the rest of our manner of life we are most well provided.

Chorus: for we will sting the man and will find a living.

Chorus: but for bees are settled among us.

Chorus: not having a sting, those who remain of our tax

1115

Chorus: they eat the trouble, not suffering.

Chorus: This is the most painful thing for us, if someone, while not having served in the army,

Chorus: He will have drained off our reward, on account of this country.

Chorus: taking neither an oar nor a spear nor a blister.

Chorus: But it seems to me, for the rest of the citizens, to be short.

1120

Chorus: Whoever does not have the sting, must not bring a triobolus.

Commentary

Commentary (Sanjaya, generated; selected passages) (OCR draft) (Source: pnadelofficial/aristophanes-sanjaya, commit c319590c139e5603e71f0699caa0663d823af8ad. Machine-generated source annotations retained; see Sanjaya import audit for coverage and limitations.) focus

1108. mvp-tlg0019-tlg004-sanjaya-com-eng1-59

Line 1108

οἱ μὲν ἡμῶν οὗπερ ἅρχων, οἱ δὲ παρὰ τοὺς ἕνδεκα,

The phrase 'οἱ δὲ παρὰ τοὺς ἕνδεκα' is a metonymy referring to the Eleven (οἱ ἕνδεκα), the board of officials responsible for the execution of prisoners and the management of the state prison (the Demosion). In the context of the *Wasps*, where the chorus consists of old men obsessed with litigation and the courts, this reference specifically evokes the harsh, punitive aspect of Athenian justice, contrasting with the first clause which alludes to the general populace or the jurors ('those under whose command we are'). The use of the preposition 'παρά' here indicates subordination or service under their authority, a specific legal and administrative relationship distinct from the more general 'ἄρχων' (ruler/commander) in the first clause.

Aristophanes Wasps 1102

ed. F. W. Hall, ed. William M. Geldart

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Commentary

Line 1108

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